Dear Krystal,
Thank you for replying to me. Believe it or not, I had forgotten which airline was responsible for one of the single worst flying experiences of my entire life. Having majored and received a BA in Psychology, my authoritative expert analysis for this phenomena is that my mind blacked out the trauma to protect itself, much like victims of Catholic priests. In case you are wondering, here is a short list of some previous horrible experiences flying:
On an international flight to Europe, I was in the lavatory and washed my face using the hand soap provided. My mistake, however the soap was not labeled. The skin on my face dried up so badly it blistered. Then I got sick on the quiche. Then we hit turbulence. Then my bags were lost for 3 days.
On another flight, I was assured that the leg brace on my left knee would not be an issue, as I would be seated just behind the bulkhead, isle section, which allowed enough room to stretch out one leg. I figured, left leg, left isle. No, right isle. Which meant I would have to bend my swollen, torn knee while my healthy leg stretched out. Or, tried to but it was repeatedly run over by the food service cart. And this was another flight to Europe.
A rainstorm cancelled all flights out of Vegas to Seattle. However, apparently flights leaving Vegas going to Portland were still flying (even though the rain issue was Vegas, not Seattle). So we flew to Portland and drove up to Seattle in a rental. Having stayed up 24 hours prior to this, it was definitely a challenge.
So there are three bad stories - and believe me, I've heard much much worse. To top this list, you would have to somehow put me on a flight where the plane sat in the gate for 2 hours, connected me on a now missed flight, transfer me to another flight taking off in 5 minutes, put that flight at the exact far end of my current location, have me show up on time with the plane at the gate, have the attendant tell me that the flight hasn't loaded yet, watch the plane taxi to the jet way thinking it was odd, then have the same attendant tell me that it wasn't my plane only to have a supervisor confirm that yes, I just watched my plane leave the gate, sit me at the airport for another 6 hours, finally get me home and lose my bags, recover my bags 2 days later but refuse to drive them out to me until you had a car going my way with other lost luggage so I wouldn't have anything for 4 days after landing. Mission accomplished.
I contacted the department of transportation because I know you tend to ignore the small folk like me - passengers - and really only care about one thing - the annual gov't report on worst airlines to fly. I contact you and my concerns get lost. I contact the government and as meaningless as one complaint may be, I see from last year that there were enough to put you guys towards the bottom - where I hope you stay indefinitely, or at least until you go bankrupt and close down.
But yeah, thanks for the heartfelt template apology email. Assholes.
Jacob
From: Executive Office [mailto:executive.office@usairways.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2007
To: Rhoades, Jacob J.
Subject: RE: US Airways Customer Relations - 2111778
Dear Mr. Rhoades:
The Department of Transportation, Office of Consumer Protection has forwarded a copy of your correspondence concerning your recent trip with us.
Please accept my apology for any inconvenience caused by the delay of your flight and for the difficulties you encountered while trying to locate your luggage. The experience you described is certainly not characteristic of the standard of service we strive to provide. Our customers deserve a pleasurable experience each and every time they fly with us, and I am sorry this trip did not meet your expectations. Your concerns have been thoroughly documented and your comments have been shared with the appropriate management teams to help us improve our service.
In the future, you may contact our office directly. Please forward your concerns via e-mail by going to our website at www.usairways.com. Go to "Contact US" then "Customer Relations" or via U.S. Mail to:
US Airways Customer Relations,
4000 E. Sky Harbor Blvd.,
Phoenix
AZ
85034
Mr. Rhoades, we appreciate and value your business. We look forward to exceeding your expectations in the future.
Sincerely,
Krystal Singleton
Executive Liaison
Customer Relations
US Airways
Heading back to Seattle this weekend for a little backpacking trip. Same trip as the one we took about 3 years ago (pics here). Its a classic 4JnK trip, with Pat and Cheri signing on so a good contingent of people I've known since the 6th grade. One major difference this time is that we are all packing SLR's, so if you hear anything about stranded hikers packing more lenses than a <insert japanese tour group cliche here>, its us! See you all next week! 